diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/CommonParams.java b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/CommonParams.java
index cab5cfa8..a781a8d4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/CommonParams.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/CommonParams.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ public record CommonParams(
   int maxzoom,
   boolean deferIndexCreation,
   boolean optimizeDb,
+  boolean emitTilesInOrder,
   boolean forceOverwrite,
   boolean gzipTempStorage,
   String longLongMap,
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ public record CommonParams(
     int maxzoom,
     boolean deferIndexCreation,
     boolean optimizeDb,
+    boolean emitTilesInOrder,
     boolean forceOverwrite,
     boolean gzipTempStorage,
     String longLongMap
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ public record CommonParams(
       maxzoom,
       deferIndexCreation,
       optimizeDb,
+      emitTilesInOrder,
       forceOverwrite,
       gzipTempStorage,
       longLongMap,
@@ -84,6 +87,7 @@ public record CommonParams(
       arguments.integer("maxzoom", "maximum zoom level (limit 14)", MAX_MAXZOOM),
       arguments.get("defer_mbtiles_index_creation", "add index to mbtiles file after finished writing", false),
       arguments.get("optimize_db", "optimize mbtiles after writing", false),
+      arguments.get("emit_tiles_in_order", "emit tiles in index order", false),
       arguments.get("force", "force overwriting output file", false),
       arguments.get("gzip_temp", "gzip temporary feature storage (uses more CPU, but less disk space)", false),
       arguments.get("llmap", "type of long long map", "mapdb")
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/geo/PointIndex.java b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/geo/PointIndex.java
index 8db9f4b1..b0aa5292 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/geo/PointIndex.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/geo/PointIndex.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package com.onthegomap.flatmap.geo;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import org.locationtech.jts.geom.Coordinate;
 import org.locationtech.jts.geom.Envelope;
 import org.locationtech.jts.geom.Geometry;
@@ -22,7 +23,21 @@ public class PointIndex<T> {
     return new PointIndex<>();
   }
 
+  private volatile boolean built = false;
+
+  private void build() {
+    if (!built) {
+      synchronized (this) {
+        if (!built) {
+          index.build();
+          built = true;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   public List<T> getWithin(Point point, double threshold) {
+    build();
     Coordinate coord = point.getCoordinate();
     Envelope envelope = point.getEnvelopeInternal();
     envelope.expandBy(threshold);
@@ -41,6 +56,7 @@ public class PointIndex<T> {
   }
 
   public T getNearest(Point point, double threshold) {
+    build();
     Coordinate coord = point.getCoordinate();
     Envelope envelope = point.getEnvelopeInternal();
     envelope.expandBy(threshold);
@@ -62,7 +78,8 @@ public class PointIndex<T> {
 
   public void put(Geometry geom, T item) {
     if (geom instanceof Point point && !point.isEmpty()) {
-      index.insert(point.getEnvelopeInternal(), new GeomWithData<>(point.getCoordinate(), item));
+      Envelope envelope = Objects.requireNonNull(point.getEnvelopeInternal());
+      index.insert(envelope, new GeomWithData<>(point.getCoordinate(), item));
     } else if (geom instanceof GeometryCollection geoms) {
       for (int i = 0; i < geoms.getNumGeometries(); i++) {
         put(geoms.getGeometryN(i), item);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/write/MbtilesWriter.java b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/write/MbtilesWriter.java
index 78582239..38173f5f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/write/MbtilesWriter.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/onthegomap/flatmap/write/MbtilesWriter.java
@@ -99,20 +99,31 @@ public class MbtilesWriter {
 
     var topology = Topology.start("mbtiles", stats);
 
-    int queueSize = 30_000 / BATCH_SIZE;
+    int queueSize = 10_000;
     WorkQueue<TileBatch> writerQueue = new WorkQueue<>("mbtiles_writer_queue", queueSize, 1, stats);
 
-    var encodeBranch = topology
-      .<TileBatch>fromGenerator("reader", next -> writer.readFeatures(batch -> {
-        next.accept(batch);
-        writerQueue.accept(batch); // also send immediately to writer
-      }), 1)
-      .addBuffer("reader_queue", queueSize)
-      .sinkTo("encoder", config.threads(), writer::tileEncoder);
+    Topology<TileBatch> encodeBranch, writeBranch;
+    if (true || config.emitTilesInOrder()) {
+      encodeBranch = topology
+        .<TileBatch>fromGenerator("reader", next -> writer.readFeatures(batch -> {
+          next.accept(batch);
+          writerQueue.accept(batch); // also send immediately to writer
+        }), 1)
+        .addBuffer("reader_queue", queueSize)
+        .sinkTo("encoder", config.threads(), writer::tileEncoder);
 
-    // the tile writer will wait on the result of each batch to ensure tiles are written in order
-    var writeBranch = topology.readFromQueue(writerQueue)
-      .sinkTo("writer", 1, writer::tileWriter);
+      // the tile writer will wait on the result of each batch to ensure tiles are written in order
+      writeBranch = topology.readFromQueue(writerQueue)
+        .sinkTo("writer", 1, writer::tileWriter);
+    } else {
+      // TODO
+//      encodeBranch = topology
+//        .fromGenerator("reader", writer::readFeatures, 1)
+//        .addBuffer("reader_queue", queueSize)
+//        .addWorker("encoder", config.threads(), (prev, next) -> {
+//          TOO
+//        })
+    }
 
     var loggers = new ProgressLoggers("mbtiles")
       .addRatePercentCounter("features", features.numFeatures(), writer.featuresProcessed)
@@ -164,16 +175,24 @@ public class MbtilesWriter {
   void readFeatures(Consumer<TileBatch> next) {
     int currentZoom = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
     TileBatch batch = new TileBatch();
+    long featuresInThisBatch = 0;
+    long tilesInThisBatch = 0;
+    // 249 vs. 24,900
+    long MAX_FEATURES_PER_BATCH = BATCH_SIZE * 100;
     for (var feature : features) {
       int z = feature.coord().z();
       if (z > currentZoom) {
         LOGGER.info("[mbtiles] Starting z" + z);
         currentZoom = z;
       }
-      if (batch.in.size() >= BATCH_SIZE) {
+      if (tilesInThisBatch > BATCH_SIZE || featuresInThisBatch > MAX_FEATURES_PER_BATCH) {
         next.accept(batch);
         batch = new TileBatch();
+        featuresInThisBatch = 0;
+        tilesInThisBatch = 0;
       }
+      featuresInThisBatch++;
+      tilesInThisBatch += feature.getNumFeatures();
       batch.in.offer(feature);
     }
     if (!batch.in.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/scripts/build.sh b/scripts/build.sh
index ad0b2500..b51de91e 100755
--- a/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/scripts/build.sh
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ set -o errexit
 set -o pipefail
 set -o nounset
 
-mvn -DskipTests=true --projects openmaptiles -am package
+mvn -DskipTests=true --projects openmaptiles -am clean package
diff --git a/scripts/ubuntu_vm_setup.sh b/scripts/ubuntu_vm_setup.sh
index bca653aa..9fecbce6 100755
--- a/scripts/ubuntu_vm_setup.sh
+++ b/scripts/ubuntu_vm_setup.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ fi
 rsync -avzP openmaptiles/target/flatmap-openmaptiles-0.1-SNAPSHOT-fatjar.jar "${1}":flatmap.jar
 scp scripts/download-other-sources.sh "${1}":download-other-sources.sh
 scp scripts/download-osm.sh "${1}":download-osm.sh
-ssh "${1}" "bash -s" <<EOF
+ssh -t "${1}" "bash -s" <<EOF
 wget -qO - https://adoptopenjdk.jfrog.io/adoptopenjdk/api/gpg/key/public | sudo apt-key add - && \
 add-apt-repository --yes https://adoptopenjdk.jfrog.io/adoptopenjdk/deb/ && \
 apt-get update -y && \